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Summary
Summary
A riveting middle-grade fantasy about sibling bonds, enchanted houses, and encroaching wildness, lyrically told in eerily beautiful prose
The grass grew taller than the house itself, surrounding it on all sides. It stuffed the keyholes and scraped against the roof. It shook the walls and made paintings shiver.
Seven years ago, the Ballastian sisters' parents left them in the magical Straygarden Place, a house surrounded by tall silver grass and floating trees. They left behind a warning saying never to leave the house or go into the grass. "Wait for us," the note read. "Sleep darkly." Ever since then, the house itself has taken care of Winnow, Mayhap, and Pavonine--feeding them, clothing them, even keeping them company--while the girls have waited and grown up and played a guessing game: Think of an animal, think of a place. Think of a person, think of a face. Until one day, when the eldest, fourteen-year-old Winnow, does the unthinkable and goes outside into the grass, and everything twelve-year-old Mayhap thought she knew about her home, her family, and even herself starts to unravel. With luscious, vivid prose, poet and author Hayley Chewins transports readers to a house where beloved little dogs crawl into their owners' minds to sleep, sick girls turn silver, and anything can be stolen--even laughter and silence.
Author Notes
Hayley Chewins is a poet and the author of The Turnaway Girls , in which she "deftly reveals a tapestry of magic, power, and rebellion thread by ethereal thread," said Kirkus Reviews in a starred review . She grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, in a house full of books, and now lives in Johannesburg, South Africa, with her husband and her poodle.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Since their parents vanished seven years ago, leaving them a list of rules ("Do not leave the house. Do not go into the grass. Wait for us. Sleep darkly"), the Ballastian sisters--10-year-old Pavonine, 12-year-old Mayhap, and 14-year-old Winnow--have lived alone at Straygarden Place, a semi-sentient house that fulfills their every need. Unable to sleep without the droomhunds, which settle into their minds at night, the sisters await their parents' return. When Winnow ventures into the forbidding silver grass outside--which perpetually whispers to the girls and tries to creep inside--and comes down with an uncanny affliction, Mayhap delves into Straygarden's secrets to find a cure. Instead, she discovers a strange girl who claims to be the source of the house's magic, as well as the shocking reason behind her parents' disappearance. Chewins (The Turnaway Girls) weaves a vivid, otherworldly tale of family and secrets, with a gothic setting that serves as a character in its own right. Through themes of identity, forgiveness, and longing, Mayhap's unpredictable quest becomes intensely personal, especially as the sisters reinvent their familial relationship. Ages 10--14. Agent: Patricia Nelson, Marsal Lyon Literary. (Sept.)
Horn Book Review
Mayhap Ballastian and her sisters have lived locked inside Straygarden Place for years, ever since their parents left them. Staying inside keeps them safe from the rapacious silver grass that surrounds the house, and in any case, the house itself looks after them -- feeds and clothes them, supplies them with books and information. But when eldest sister Winnow ventures out and returns wounded by the grass, Mayhap sets out to find how to cure her. Instead, she finds the house's secret inhabitant, the Mysteriessa, whose identity and purpose threaten Mayhap's very being. Chewins's story revolves around guilt and belonging, with a rather cumbersome plot maneuvering readers toward a scene of restoration and acceptance -- and a surprising twist ending. But Straygarden Place is pure confection and provides the sparkle to the imagining, with its fancy furniture, food, and clothing; transporting carpets; and self-tucking coverlets. There's confection, too, in Chewins's abundant similes: a door as "black and shiny as Italian vinegar"; roots "as white as marzipan"; bones that felt "as brittle as burned sugar." Deirdre F. Baker November/December 2020 p.96(c) Copyright 2020. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4--6--Mayhap Ballastian and her sisters Winnow and Pavonine have been trapped in Straygarden Place since their parents disappeared several years earlier. Luckily, the house takes care of everything the sisters need, providing meals on demand and droomhunds to darken their sleep and keep them company. It isn't safe to go outside the tall magical grasses surrounding the house--but one terrible day, Winnow goes wandering in the grasses anyway. From that point forward, everything that the sisters knew to be true starts to unravel as Mayhap must save her family and herself. Along the way, she meets the Mysteriessa of Straygarden Place, who claims to use magic to take care of the house and the Ballastians…but can she be trusted? The magic of Straygarden Place is dreamy and imbued with dread, providing a strong setting for Mayhap's trials. Though at times the surreality of the world makes it hard to follow, the plot and characters are engaging enough to make up for it. VERDICT A strong opening and consistent sense of urgency makes this an ideal choice for reluctant readers interested in slightly spooky fantasy. Give to fans of Neil Gaiman's Coraline, Kenneth Oppel's The Nest, or The House in Poplar Wood by K.E. Ormsbee.--Kelsey Socha, Springfield City Lib., MA
Kirkus Review
In an enchanted house, three sisters face confusing dangers. Years ago, Mamma and Pappa silently walked out of the large, formal, and daunting Straygarden Place, leaving their daughters a cryptic note: "Do not leave the house. / Do not go into the grass. / Wait for us. / Sleep darkly." The silver grass outside looms taller than the house itself; always aggressive, it plugs the keyholes, blocks the windows, shakes the walls, and hisses words. It tries to get in. One day, eldest sister Winnow goes outdoors--and when she returns, nothing is the same. The house still nurturingly feeds and clothes the girls using magic, but Winnow sickens and begins to turn silver. Unable to talk, Winnow rages incoherently at middle sister and third-person protagonist Mayhap. The relationships among Mayhap, Winnow, and youngest sister Pavonine tip sideways with anger, bafflement, and terror. Even each girl's personally bonded droomhund--a small black dog who squeezes physically into its girl's brain when she needs darkness for sleeping--can't provide comfort, and Winnow's droomhund is impossibly missing. Why does the aroma of coffee make Mayhap feel like she's smothering? Who's the sudden fourth girl in the house, and what has she woven out of "dirt and bats' lungs…the darkness of the sky and the silk of the moon…[and]…coffee"? Chewins' prose is exquisite, her eerie concepts heart-wrenching. All characters are white. Superb, spooky, and unforgettable. (Fantasy/horror. 10-14) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Excerpts
Excerpts
The house dressed Mayhap Ballastian in blue on the day her sister disappeared. Blue for sorrow. Blue for a bruise. Blue for cold. Mayhap stood in the vaulted entrance hall of Straygarden Place, peering through tiny frond-shaped windows at the silver grass that swamped them. The grass grew taller than the house itself, surrounding it on all sides. It stuffed the keyholes and scraped against the roof. It shook the walls and made paintings shiver. It took on the color of the sky as it changed, and right now was tinted with the mysterious sort of purple that arrived every day as the afternoon faded, making the house feel more like a sunken ship than a sprawling mansion. Mayhap tapped the heel of her shoe on the white marble floor anxiously. She straightened the cuffs of her indigo coat and adjusted her kidskin gloves. Her droomhund sat at her ankle, whining, blinking his black, black eyes. "Shhh, Seekatrix," she whispered, gathering him into her arms. She stroked his head. His fur was wispy as whispers and inky as a nighttime sky without stars. "I know you're upset," she told him. "But we don't have a choice." Mayhap and her sisters hadn't unlocked the front door since their parents had left them. Pavonine had been only three when Cygnet and Bellwether Ballastian had gone. Mayhap had been five and could still remember her father saying goodbye -- his cold hands in hers, his eyes puffy, always glancing away. Her mother had stood beside him, an elegant blur in a wide-brimmed hat. Mayhap could not remember a kiss from her, a single touch. Hours after their departure, Winnow had discovered a letter in the lap of a porcelain doll and had read its precise instructions aloud in her best eldest-sister voice: Do not leave the house. Do not go into the grass. Wait for us. Sleep darkly. Mayhap had asked the house to frame the letter -- a single hand-scrawled page -- and to hang it up above their bed as a reminder. The rules were simple and easy to follow. Mayhap didn't like the thought of disobeying. But now she had to. Because she had to save Winnow. Winnow had been missing all day. Mayhap had searched for her everywhere. And then she had seen her older sister in the silver grass. Her coat's burgundy shoulders and her dark, windswept hair. Her droomhund, Evenflee, close at her heels. Winnow was out there. The grass parted like curtains, allowing Mayhap to see patches of sky through the mosaic of glittering windows. Floating trees drifted through the air -- a whole orchard of them -- their roots as white as marzipan and as frizzy as brushed ringlets, their boughs black against the bright vermilion of their petals. Her mother had christened them wanderroot , and there were more in the conservatory, which Cygnet had pulled into the house with rope, blistering her hands. Mayhap took a breath, tucked Seekatrix under one arm, and turned the key in the lock. The heavy door opened easily, as though its hinge had been greased with butter. The silver strands, clinging together again, appeared as solid as a serving plate. And then a long, looping blade of grass -- thick as piano wire and shiny as a sugar spoon -- slithered around Mayhap's arm. Seekatrix growled. Mayhap shuddered. All she wanted to do was shut the door. But the door had been opened. The grass had found its way in. Dread soaked her, as though she'd climbed into a bath of icy water with all her clothes on. "Please," she said. "I only want to find my sister --" "You are so kind to ask us to stay," hissed the grass, drawing itself into the room. Seekatrix yapped. "You c-can't," Mayhap stuttered. She pushed against the grass's tendrils. "You've opened the door, Mayhap Ballastian. An open door is an invitation. And it is not polite to retract an invitation." "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be impolite --" "If we cannot be permitted to come in," said the grass, as though it were speaking with a hundred and three tongues at once, "are you going to come outside?" Before Mayhap had a chance to answer, the grass yanked her out of the house with one swift swipe. It pummeled her, dragging her through flashing and flickering light, stinging at her cheeks, Seekatrix still in her grasp. And then it set her down abruptly. Mayhap's ankles rattled with the hard landing, her bones clicking like the stiff cogs of clocks. She fought to catch her breath. Coughing, she said, "I'm only looking for my sister. Winnow. I mean -- have you seen her, by any chance?" Seekatrix was wriggling. She let him go, and he trotted around her dizzily. A laugh hiccuped through the grass, and it parted its strands, then slid about her elbows and shins like snakes in paintings of gardens. "And Pavonine?" it asked. "Have you lost her, too?" "No," said Mayhap crossly, struggling against it, "of course I haven't." "Not yet," sneered the grass. It laughed again, and Mayhap could see up into the mauve sky, the clouds laced with the dark-orange blossoms of meandering trees. A white bat, small as a mouse, flung itself through the air, diving into dusk as though into a still pond. "Pavonine's in the library," said Mayhap. "With Tutto. He's telling her stories. She doesn't know Winnow's gone. I saw her -- I saw Winnow -- through the window. She was walking. With her droomhund. I'd searched all the rooms, and I went back to our bedroom just in case. And I saw -- you swallowed her." "Ah, our little liar," said the grass, tittering affectionately. It slackened its hold on Mayhap's arms and legs to brush against her cheeks. One more laugh, she thought, and then I'll be free. "Why did you call me that?" she asked. "Why did you call me your little liar?" The grass snickered, loosening around her arms and legs even more, like hair falling from a plait. "Because," it said. "Because you are ours, aren't you?" There , thought Mayhap -- there was a gap. She slipped one foot out of the silver, then the other, whipping her arms from the grass's tangle. She turned and she ran, stumbling, whistling for Seekatrix to follow. The grass bristled, but it didn't reach for her, and Mayhap did not pause to ask why. She ran up the wide front steps and dived into the entrance hall, Seekatrix at her heels. She threw her body against the door, turning the key in the lock as quickly as her shaking fingers would allow. "We'll wait," said the grass. "We'll wait for you, Mayhap Ballastian. We have been patient for a long time, and we will be patient still." Mayhap slid to the floor. Seekatrix crept into her arms like a jittery shadow, and she let him lick away her tears. "Winnow," she sobbed into his fur. "What have you done?" Excerpted from The Sisters of Straygarden Place by Hayley Chewins All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
